The Atlanta Lawyer December/January 2020 | Page 13

IN THE PROFESSION Walking into the crowded corridors of the Georgia World Congress Center, I felt like a tourist at Hartsfield-Jackson caught on, well, any day at the Atlanta airport. Everyone moved around me like they all knew the choreographed moves of the pre- bar dance. I, on the other hand, sharpened six No. 2 pencils only minutes before walking into the building. I wasn’t overly anxious; the past three years of neglect to my physical appearance required a raw sense of confidence that was strong enough to overcome any self-doubt. (In fact, it once inspired my sister to tell me that law school made me look homeless.) I was freakishly cool about the next 48-hours of my life, even knowing next to nothing about secured transactions. In the days leading up to the bar exam, I realized that if the long days spent on my balcony, reciting the dormant commerce clause, and taking studying to a level that neared insanity wasn’t enough to pass, then I would just have to try again in February. My one regret is that I didn’t come to terms with this very logical conclusion earlier. The journey is often more important than the destination, this being especially true for new attorneys. I can say I have not had to use good ole dormant commerce clause since studying for the exam. Truthfully, I have come to the realization that I actually know very little information as compared to everything I continue learning on a daily basis. Socrates said, “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.” Law school is the art of learning to think like a lawyer, and of all the things I have learned, in reality that is what I use every day. MEGHAN THOMAS LexisNexis [email protected] Your Mindset Sets the Tone By Brian Wilson Whether clerking with a judge or working as a new associate, emerging from law school is daunting. After studying for the bar for months, the job is quick to reveal whole swaths of the law that you have never heard of and skills you did not know you would need (There is a whole article in the Georgia Code on falling pecans. Who knew? O.C.G.A. 44-12-240 et seq.) When confronted with colleagues who move through the legal world with apparent ease, it is easy to feel unprepared and of little value. That expectation—that everyone else knows more than you—can get in the way of seeing the reality of your worth as a new attorney. The Student Mindset Before law school, I taught undergraduates as part of my master’s program in philosophy at Georgia State University. There, I tried to prepare my students for the “real world” by asking them to shed their student mindset. Schools create the expectation that all work is measured and evaluated by an instructor who already has the answer and who will evaluate work submitted against it. Within this framework, many students develop an attitude that ‘showing your work’ is an extraneous task assigned by teachers to derive maximum discomfort and create work where none is needed. In an employment setting, the truth is just the opposite. First, your boss does not already have the answer; if they did, why would they ask you for it? Second, explaining your solution or conclusion is necessary to convince others that your answer is trustworthy. Despite attempting to talk my undergraduates out of their student mindsets, I left law school not fully having shed my own. While I fully expected (and to a certain extent, even enjoyed) supporting my legal research with well-written memos or briefs, it was hard to shake the old notion that I would present my work to someone who already knew the answer and would immediately see the flaws in my work. You Know More than You Think - and You Can Learn What You Do Not Know What I learned serving as a judicial clerk and now working as a law firm associate, is there is no doubt that your judge or partner will find flaws in your legal research and writing—some may even relish it —but the reason they give you an assignment in the first place is because they do not know the answer. If they did, there would be no reason to perform that research. It is easy to assume that your superiors, both by nature of their position and experience, know, at a minimum, everything you know and a good bit more to boot. It will undoubtedly be true that they know more about the law, but that does not mean that they will also know everything you do, especially after you have waded through a case file. There are a few take-aways that stem from this realization: • Be as thorough as your time constraints will allow and state your confidence in your research honestly. • You may come to know the facts and the law of the case better than anyone else. • Do not be afraid to challenge or correct your superiors (in the right way and at the right time). It will often be the case that your superior will point out something that you have missed, giving the impression that they see and know all. This impression can give you a false sense of safety, but it is your job to make sure your judge or partner is not embarrassed when they rely on your work. You need to be as thorough as you can be within the time allowed, so that there are (continues on page 15) www.atlantabar.org THE ATLANTA LAWYER 13